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Gustavus is IPv6 Enabled

The main difference between regular IPv4 and IPv6 is the number of internet addresses possible. The internet is about two years from running out of IP addresses. IPv6 solves those problems. In fact, Gustavus alone has FAR more IPv6 addresses than there are IPv4 addresses on the Internet.

For more information about IPv6 in general see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6

What does this mean for Gustavus?

Faster access to google services
Because we access IPv6 internet addresses over Internet2, and google offers its services via IPv6, we now access google services such as http://www.youtube.com and Google Calendar over our very fast Internet2 connection. This also means that many Google services are not going over our Internet1 connection, freeing bandwidth for other uses.

We can access IPv6 only sites
Right now, there are very few IPv6 only sites, but the internet will run out of addresses in about two years so as addresses become scarse more of the internet may become accessable only over IPv6. Right now most ipv6 only sites are for testing, such as http://ipv6.google.com which you can only get to if you have ipv6.

Continues Gustavus’s status as a leader in Internet Technology
While most large research universities have enabled IPv6 on at least some of their networks, Gustavus is among the first Liberal Arts Colleges to enable IPv6. We believe we are the first private college in Minnesota.

What do I need to do to use IPv6?

If you are running Windows Vista, Windows 7, or a recent version of OS X, it is probably already working for you. If you can get to http://ipv6.google.com then it is working. If not, you just need to turn it on and tell it to configure itself automatically.

On Windows XP, you’ll need to install ipv6 support. You can do that by running

netsh interface ipv6 install

from the command prompt.

If you would like help enabling ipv6, please feel free to e-mail the technology helpline at helpline@gustavus.edu or call x6111

Do you have any information about enabling v6 on Linux machines? I’ve been trying to get it set up. ifconfig and the GUI network manager both say I have at least one v6 address, but I can’t get ipv6.google.com.